6845 Mack Avenue
C. F. Smith Store, Canton Cafe, Little Club Bar, Rip’s Little Club
In 1910, Canton Avenue didn’t continue through this portion of Detroit’s East side. The neighborhood was still developing, and it looked more similar to how it does today than it did at its peak in the 1950s. There was a tiny one-story dwelling on this site at one time, but it would be gone within a few years.
By 1913, a store at this location sold Swift’s Premium Oleomargarine, which can be the same thing as margarine or may refer to fatty grease from beef fat used to make margarine. Either way, the shop that sold it was a C. F. Smith Store.
Charles F. Smith founded the stores, and there were said to be hundreds around Metro Detroit before large supermarkets took over. The main warehouse was located at Grand Boulevard, south of Michigan Avenue, and was a staple of Detroit before chains became the norm. The store at this location was there until at least 1916.
In 1915, Roy Miller, 23, lived in the apartment above the storefront. He was in trouble for “contributing to the delinquency of Loretta Delaney, 16 years old,” according to the Detroit Free Press. He admitted to his crimes, though he was acquitted in court.
Though it’s hard to imagine today, this structure was originally a part of a larger commercial block. This was one of five storefronts with apartments on the second floor. The structure directly west of this one was a bakery, and the next one over was a drugstore. This is the only remnant of those five structures, which have been gone for decades.
In 1928, a grocery store owner at this location was looking for a partner and manager. The store was described as a “grocery and meat market.”
By 1936, the storefront had become a restaurant. According to the Detroit Free Press, Onoro Didanto was robbed of $28 at his restaurant on August 25 and was later able to identify Nick Kourvatsos and Charles Kallie as the men who did it.
In 1937, an ad was in the paper for bar equipment for sale. The business was listed as the Canton Cafe.
By 1950, the structure was home to Alex and Charles Koskos’ Little Club Bar. That year, they were fined $200 and had their license suspended for 30 days for serving a minor.
A year later, the bar was in trouble for serving minors again. This time, it was listed as Rip’s Little Club, and the fine was $150, which came with a 15-day suspension.
In May 1952, The Little Club was advertising live music in the paper. Stenis Ousley, a musician, would be at the bar playing piano and sophisticated songs. There was no cover, door, or minimum charges.
By 1955, music was still echoing out of the bar, again listed as Rip’s Little Club. This time, the entertainment was Dave Hamilton and His Peppers, who provided music, vocals, and comedy. There was entertainment at the club every Friday through Monday.
In April 1969, John Foster, 66, was at the Little Club around 1 AM. The man standing next to him held a knife to his neck and told him to be quiet. He took his wallet, which contained $5, and left before anyone else noticed.
At one point, Salvatore Ripullo, a 37-year veteran of the Jefferson Chrysler Plant, owned the bar pictured here.
Eventually, the bar closed, and the building became home to McQuerry’s Barber Shop, owned by Clifton McQuerry, which ran with assistance from his daughter in the later years. In 1999, Clifton was quoted in the Detroit Free Press about the current state of affairs in Detroit. He said, “Lots of people have been coming in and complaining about the city, let me tell you. Services were supposed to get so much better. I voted for Archer the first time, but this just stayed about the same. Block groups used to do a lot of the trash pickup and snow, but there ain’t no block groups anymore. A house here and a house there, how you going to have a block club?”
Clifton McQuerry died on Christmas in 2018. Since then, his barbershop and this structure have sat vacant.
Even as the neighborhoods surrounding Mack Avenue continue to become healthier, we have yet to see a significant increase in new businesses along the corridor. Hopefully, we’ll see more of that as time passes, and this one can hang on until that happens.
